Jump to content

Cars you would like to save/hindsight


SherpaMog

Recommended Posts

I don't know if I'm in the minority, in fact I know I am, so that's bollocks, sorry for rambling, bit pissed.

Excluding cars with a fashionable scene, eg vw campers etc, which cars did you own, that you wished you has saved?

I wish I had kept my mini 1000, yellow and brush painted, loved it. solid little car. Got 200 pounds for it as I had a metro as well, and wanted to go gatecrasher with my mates.

I sold a genuine escort mexico for 400 back in the day. Christ I'm stupid, but I really wanted that skip brown 205 gti.total shitheap but fast.

Please enlighten me with stories of being young and stupid. Even the reshelled xr3i I bought for 150 nicker would be someone's dream now.crashed that, big time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My Series I Renault 25 Monaco.

 

Didn't realise how rare they were even at the time. It needed new rear suspension arms basically, which seemed insurmountable at the time.

 

...would take it on in a second now.

 

Still without exception the most comfortable car I've ever driven, and one of the best looking I reckon in the deep copper-bronze colour the Monaco edition cars came in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, there plenty of us who have the same regrets even if they aren't considered cool etc in other circles. 

 

My 1st car a 1986 C reg Talbot Samba Style. Paid a £130 when I was 16! Had to get my dad to drive it the one street away to where we lived. Had it 5 and half years then stupidly gave it away for free in the Practical Classics Mag when they used to do the free cars and spare parts section. As by that point I had 4 cars at my parents house! 

 

My 1989 G reg Fiat Tipo 1.4 DGT that I had to sell after some dickhead garage messed up the cambelt change and left it needing a new engine. Sold if for a £100 as couldn't afford the repairs at the time. Would love another Tipo at some point to make up for it. 

 

My 1990 Ford Escort 1.4L 5dr. Yes it was a utter shed. Rust on every panel and bent drivers wing and tapped up front bumper. But was like the Tipo above a fantastic car and never let me down even when I drove through a flood that had caught out 4 cars including a brand new Range Rover. Sold it to help pay my rent at the time. Should have slept in the Car!

 

1993 K reg Renault Extra 1.6 Diesel. Fun little Van that I spent alot of time time badly touching up the rust scabs with Hamarite Paint but always got me where I needed to go without any trouble. Only paid £125 I think with 10 months mot and had a nice set of R5 GT alloys. Sold it for just £25 after my parents divorce as had no where to keep it as the Mot had ran out after it failed on the front subframe being rotten and couldn't afford a new one from Renault at £275+ Vat. Doubt I'd find another one.  :-(

 

My 2nd Car a 1989 G reg MK1 Uno 45S. Brought for £95 when I was 17 and still hadn't passed my test and also still had my Samba above! I spent alot of time bodging it up with filler for a Mot that it failed on more rot. Had it all welded up. Got 2 secondhand doors sprayed up and fitted. Then put a set of Turbo alloys and a Sony CD player and some Kenwood front speakers. Then ragged it for 5 years but spent alot of money on the engine and gearbox with genuine parts from Fiat because my brother worked at the main dealer and got a nice discount. Even brought Genuine Lights all round and badges. Sold it for a £100 like the Renault Extra because of my Parents Divorce as it needed some work and I hadn't got enough money to afford more than one car. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Car I most regret selling (rather than saving...which was the R25) was my 1981 Austin MiniMetro HLE. Snapdragon yellow, and absolutely stock save for MG Metro alloys and foursome reason a later driver's seat.

 

Drove like a new car, and had very little rust. Only bit that really needed some attention was on the inner wings behind the headlight on the nearside. Subframes etc all looked like new.

 

I stupidly traded it in when I was offered several times what I'd paid for it. It made sense at the time...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1981 Volvo 240GLT: needed a repair to the overdrive and a bit of welding, but a bloke in Horwich wanted the peeled-cow interior and swapped a lockupful of 2CV/Dyane spares for it.  Hard to refuse!

 

1989 Peugeot 309GLX: this had the rattly but indestructible Simca 1294 motor - completely reliable and nothing wrong with it, but I'd got a lease car from work, and... well, you get the picture.  It had the amazing sunroof, too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Too many to list.  :-(

 

Me too, Ken!  But I'll have a go.

post-4559-0-04249200-1508136538_thumb.jpg

These two, certainly.  I sold the Chrysler because it needed some paintwork doing, and as usual I couldn't afford it.  The copcar was a welding project, which I didn't know when I bought it blind off ebay, but I never learn, do I?  A proper ex-copcar though...

post-4559-0-92724600-1508136695_thumb.jpg

My 1978 Daimler Sovereign.  Couldn't afford to keep it and my black Buick, so the Daimler had to go.  I'd be keeping the Buick too if I could.

post-4559-0-42290900-1508136801_thumb.jpg

My first Volvo.  It was getting a bit tired so I retired it down the drive and bought an SD1 as a daily while I saved up to get the Volvo fixed.  Except the SD1 swallowed all the money and then died.  Should have just kept the Volvo going.

post-4559-0-68415000-1508136946_thumb.jpg

My Peppermint Green Cortina.  That colour was my choice, as the seller was a sprayer and offered me a good deal on a paintjob.  Was a bloody good car too, a 2.0GL auto registered on my birthday.  But it suffered a horrendous failsheet and 25 years ago they were worth exactly fuck-all.

post-4559-0-97585300-1508137146_thumb.jpg

Ah, the famous Scarlet Skateboard!  It's almost two years now since that stupid fucking woman drove me off the road and wrote it off, and tried to blame me.  I'm not angry at all, oh no, who me?  Pass me an ERF and watch what happens when she tries to do it again.

 

There are many others...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I was 18, I bought the Vauxhall Viva.  Still own it.

When I was about 32, I bought my Sierra.  Still own it.

When I was about 42, I bought my Astra.  Still own it.

I am now 52, and, perhaps I bit unusual!

 

I broke my parents HB Viva estate in about '83.  Such a rare car that I sometimes regret it, but I need to slim the fleet so actually, more interested in getting rid now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I miss my first BX. It was so ropey and the engine would warm up super quick but it felt fast and the TU3 sounded amazing with the lacking sound insulation.

Then the wiring loom semi melted on the A4, as well as the huge rot issue it had, I sold it for barely three figures.

 

Clearly had an effect on me as I'm eyeing up another BX14 now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Two of mine come to mind quite frequently, even without being prompted by a thread like this. 

  

The 1959 Mini that I broke up for all the bolt-on goodies it had come with (I didn't even have another Mini to put them on) in 1978.    

 

The 1977 Mercedes 280SE which had minor niggles and some bodywork issues that could really have been quite easily sorted (nothing structural). 

 

In both cases I got fed up with paying the garage rent.   I still rent two garages.  I still spend loads of money keeping stuff on the road...... 

 

Neither of these cars is likely to be within my financial reach again. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Obviously I wish i still had all the Mk1 Escorts, Capri's, Cortinas etc, purely from a financial point of view but the car I miss most was a B reg Renault 25 2.2 GTX. Lovely car, I don't think I could fault it in any way but it was totally worthless at the time. Needing a set of tyres and some MoT repairs were the reasons I scrapped it. No big deal now but couldnt afford to fix at the time

 

Really wish I had kept that car.

 

A few years later I bought a 1990 2.0 TXi version. It was nowhere near as good and I just didn't like it as much as the earlier one

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Daimler Conquest Century. Had it for a while and loved it but it needed some bits for the MOT which were £££ so ended up selling it. A year later they announced MOT exemption for pre-60 cars. I was mildly irritated. In fact had I known I would've kept the Vauxhall 10 as well - apart from floorpan weldage all that needed was a coolant hose, which to be fair appeared at the time to be made of unobtainium.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My 1986 Renault 4F6 van. Scrapped for rot in one of the rear chassis rails, it was pretty good apart from that, but it was the usual story of having nowhere to keep it, no money (student) and a knackered automatic Mini that took all my spare time and effort to keep on the road.

 

Cars I was glad I did not save: the aforementioned Mini.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I regret selling my 1984 Honda Prelude Mk2. It was the cleanest one I'd seen for years. I bought it after it had been sat in a garage for a while, it only had about 35k on it and I spent ages faffing with the carbs to get it running right. It was really nice to drive and I always thought it looked quite classy. I sold it a few years ago and not long after someone drove into the back of it at speed and wrote the car off. A real shame.

 

I also regret selling my Citroen Saxo VTS, especially when I see what price they're going for now! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1989 F-reg Ford Sierra Sapphire Ghia in Black. Got it for free and ran it for a few months or something. I lost a job and had very little money. Insurance, tax and MOT came to an end on the same day as well, plus it started overheating in traffic whilst I was on my way home from work before it finished. I bet it only needed a top up of water but I knew nothing about car maintanance then.

 

At the time, for me it spelt the end of the Sierra as I had nowhere to keep it, it needed work for the MOT and retaxing. I had no money, even for some of the MOT work so I sadly drove it down to its final resting place at the scrappy at the end of the estate followed by a mate as I wanted the alloys off it. I've still got the alloys. I doubt I'll ever have another Sapphire like that as they are being sucked into the OMG FORD SCENE TAX Y'ALL knob-endery.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was looking through some photos and was reminded that I actually had a MK2 Fiesta for nearly a year. I even purchased a spares car and stripped that for it too. 

Then my knob head of a friend decided they didn't want to store it anymore and insisted I sell it. 

 

I think it sold for £220?! It had some rot but was complete and ran fine. 

 

Never did drive it in anger. Shame. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Predictably - my first car, a '75 Mini 1000, bought at 16 for £80, done up in time for 17th, used for a year then sold to my idiot sister who proceeded to ruin it over the next three years. 

 

Any of my Alfasuds I had from when I was 19 through to 23 years old (a 1200, 1300 & a 1500 - the 1300Ti being the best).

 

The first of my four 205GTi's, a black '88 model - superb low miler, was superb when I sold it too. (1994).

 

Oddly, my total PoS Mk4 Cortina 1300 - a  rare 2-door model (cost all of £100), scrapped that one when the ticket ran out (it was an utter, utter wreck).

 

Probably my second Golf GTi Mk1, made a decent profit on selling at the time but nothing as to what it'd be worth now!

 

 

Bike-wise:

 

My Honda 250RS - a PoS to look at but the worlds greatest town hack and still love them today

 

Yamaha DT175 (1982) - really shouldn't have sold this, got it in 1999 sold it a year later, one of the nicest originals I've ever seen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've sold the majority of my cars as they've started to become problematic, or I've fallen out of favour with them. Isn't that the norm, if truth be told?

Regardless of sensible head, silly head would prevail in bringing back my first car - a 1977 mk1 Golf, and my first Cavalier gsi. Both long dead, unfortunately.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That would have to be my first car, a 1978 Fiesta 1.1 L in stunning Nevada Beige. My friends may have laughed at it but I had some good times in that, it stood outside in all weathers and never let me down. It was only sold because my grandmother remarried and her new husband had a car so we inherited her Corsa, which is ironic as we had acquired the Fiesta when she got the Corsa. It's still alive somewhere, now painted black according to the DVLA and had been scraping through the MOT with loads of advisories that all disappeared at the last test so with luck it got restored. It's now SORN and the MOT expired a couple of months ago so hopefully safely in storage somewhere.

 

As for cars I would not like to save - the aforementioned Corsa. It was the very definition of all Vauxhalls are shit and I certainly wouldn't have bought it by choice. It's still taxed though so someone is putting up with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Everything, because I am old enough for them all to be worth silly money now.

But in particular:

Genuine 998cc Mk 1 Mini Cooper. XRE807C. Yellow and white. Mamba alloys, bucket seats. Sold for £500.

Cortina 1600E. MVV788H. Silver Fox metallic. Resprayed by every owner, including me, because the paint kept falling off it.

Triumph Vitesse 2-litre Mk 2 convertible. AYF112J. Taken off road for restoration when I found a flattened-out baked bean tin in the rear wheel arch, stripped down and never put back together again. Bought for £1000, spent £600 on new parts, sold to a neighbour who allegedly worked for Triumph and designed the Herald front suspension, in bits for £600. He promised to rebuild it and show me it finished, then moved away. Still recorded as last on the road when I had it. What a waste.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...